How to Roof With 3-Tab Shingles

Instructions

• 1). Get supplies. Shingles are sold in squares and each square contains enough shingles to cover 100 square feet of your roof. To find out how many squares you need, multiply the width and length of your roof and divide that number by 100. Be sure to add about 10 percent to the total because you'll need those extra shingles for ridges and starter rows. Get two-and-a-half pounds of roofing nails for every square of shingles.
  
  
• 2). Check for damage. Before putting down shingles repair any damage to the roof's structure and take care of missing, damaged or loose shingles. A pry bar can be used to remove the shingles and any loose nails you find. If there are more than three layers of shingles already on your roof pull them all off before applying new shingles.
  
  
• 3). Attach shingles. For areas where the roof dips into a valley you'll need to put down mineral surface roofing and cover it with a strip of 18-inch wide flashing that is attached with nails and cement. Cover the valley with 36-inch wide felt and staple it. Cut shingles to fit the valley, put cement on shingle edges and nail them to the. Next, lay out a row of felt along the eaves of the roof. Staple it down and roll out another row, making sure the rows overlap by two inches. Continue this until the entire roof is covered in felt.
  
  
• 4). Go to the center of the roof; mark a chalk line and use it as a guide. Next to the eaves, begin a starter row. Starter shingles may have come with your square but if not, just cut off the tabs on the shingle bottom to make starter shingles. Let the starter row hang over the eaves by five-eights of an inch. Start installing the first row of shingles. Put four nails across the center and hammer straight into the shingle. Lay more shingles, working toward the edges of the roof. After completing one row begin a new one in the same manner. Make sure the cut out tabs on the bottom are layered over the middle of the shingle below. Continue until you complete the roof. For protrusion such as pipes and chimneys cut out flashing to fit over the protrusion and extend out from it by six inches. Use cement and nails to secure flashing. Apply cement to the edge of shingles and lay over flashing then use nails to secure shingles to the roof.